Shimla: Former Himachal Pradesh Congress Committee chief Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu will be the new chief minister of Himachal Pradesh.
Two days after Congress won the hilly state, the party decided to go with Sukhu as its new chief minister. The development came after a legislative party meeting Saturday evening — the second in 24 hours.
In Shimla, the chief minister-elect Sukhu had tears in his eyes as he was handed over the letter by the CLP. Sukhu was chosen over two other contenders, current HPCC chief Pratibha Singh and former leader of opposition Mukesh Agnihotri.
Agnihotri, meanwhile, will be the state’s deputy chief minister. The two leaders will be sworn in at 11 am Sunday.
According to party sources, the three observers in the state — Rajiv Shukla, Bhupesh Baghel, and Bhupinder Hooda — were to leave Shimla Saturday. While Baghel and Hooda were to head to their states, Shukla was to submit a report of the Friday meeting to Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge Sunday.
However, the three continued to stay on in Shimla Saturday in order to hold meetings with state leaders at the Oberoi Cecil hotel in the city.
Holding a second CLP marks a shift in the party’s style of decision-making for crucial state posts. In the past, when the CLP authorised the high command to decide on a matter, the decision was always taken in Delhi by the party’s high command, and more importantly, the Gandhis.
It may appear that this time, the three observers have managed to listen to various sides in order to form a consensus on the CM.
Sources say that the three were constantly in touch with Kharge, but Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, who’s in Ranthambore on a vacation with her mother Sonia Gandhi, is learnt to have stayed away from the issue.
On Friday, a day after the Congress won 40 out of 68 seats in the Himachal Pradesh assembly, a display of support for various leaders had begun in Shimla. Himachal Congress chief Pratibha Singh, the wife of party stalwart and six-time CM the late Virbhadra Singh, had staked claim to the chair saying that she should be given the post as the state polls were fought on Virbhadra Singh’s legacy.
Meanwhile, even as the CLP meeting was on, Singh’s supporters continued to chant slogans in her support.
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Where each candidate stands
According to party sources, the main impediment to making Pratibha Singh chief minister was that this would mean that the Congress would have to face two by-elections. Making Pratibha Singh, who’s currently a Member of Parliament for Mandi, the chief minister would mean that have to vacate her seat, necessitating a by-election.
It would also mean that she would also have to contest the assembly by-polls within six months of her appointment as chief minister.
For the Congress, this would have been a risk, especially given that the vote-share difference between it and the BJP during these assembly elections was a mere 0.9 per cent.
In addition, the Congress also won 5 of Mandi’s 17 assembly seats. Defeat at the Mandi Lok Sabha seat would be another seat lost in Lok Sabha, where the party’s numbers are already low, the sources said.
Meanwhile, sources also said that in one-on-one interactions, most MLAs and state functionaries had shown their preference for Sukhu, citing his 5-year tenure as state unit chief and his political heft given his rise from student politics.
They also expressed concerns about “favouritism” in case Pratibha is given the top position, said sources.
(Edited by Utara Ramaswamy)
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